The St Ann’s End Of An Era

In the late 1960s an area of Nottingham known as St Ann’s was set for demolition. This involved the wholesale clearance of houses, shops, pubs, churches and businesses. Most of the houses were built in the mid-1800s and of very poor quality, having no internal toilets or bathrooms, poor sanitation and damp problems. The process of demolition meant that upwards of 30,000 people would be rehoused in different parts of the city.

Typical of this era, what St Ann’s did have was a great sense of community which was about to be lost along with a way of life that we would never see again. To many residents, although being rehoused in better modern homes was something to look forward to, this community was to be sadly missed.

​During this time Peter Richardson was at Derby College of Art embarking on a course in photojournalism, and so he decided to try and capture the demise of this community and the end of a way of life that was on the point of disappearing forever. Many people had to continue living among the demolition work, and these photographs portray a snapshot of their way of life during this upheaval.

Peter studied photography at Derby College of Art and qualified with a diploma in creative photography in 1973. He spent most of his working life as an advertising and fashion photographer, mixed with a stint driving buses. He spent a decade using his spare time travelling around Europe in a motorhome and supplying images to a picture library. He has an extensive collection of photographs, taken both in the early part of his career and whilst traveling, which now have both historical and social interest and he hopes will be enjoyed by others.